


Out of the Woods

by ByTheAngell (SomeLittleInfamy)



Series: Tumblr Prompts [8]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 16:01:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15174287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeLittleInfamy/pseuds/ByTheAngell
Summary: Rather than watch him drown in alcohol and distractions, Catarina and Ragnor drag Magnus into the woods to force him to face his post-Camille-breakup thoughts and feelings.





	Out of the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr prompt: “What about a warlock camping trip for a drabble prompt?”

Catarina rolls her eyes but says nothing when Magnus, after ending his relationship with Camille, throws himself immediately into a tryst with Woolsey Scott. Ragnor pretends to believe him when he says that he’s fine, the rebound burning fast and bright before burning out entirely. But Magnus can’t be alone and he refuses to sit still, bouncing from mundane pubs to private parties to underground downworlder clubs, rarely sober and never spending more than a night in any one place with any one person, and that’s when the two of them know they cannot stand idly by any longer. Magnus acts like it is all in good fun but this is the beginning of a spiral that Catarina and Ragnor both know too well by now.

They show up outside the room he’s staying in. When he finally opens the bedroom door (after sleeping through several minutes of Ragnor’s insistent knocking) they throw a bag already packed with some clothing and personal items on the floor in front of him. 

“What’s this?” Magnus asks, words coming slow in the hazy mixture of fading sleep and lingering intoxication. Cat’s nose scrunches up involuntarily at the strong odor of alcohol that clings to his clothing, a smell only amplified by his breath as he stifles a yawn.

“This,” Catarina starts pointedly. “Is an intervention. You’re coming with us.”  

Magnus looks dubiously down at the bag before back up at Cat. “You aren’t seriously trying to throw me in rehab, are you? I’m  _ fine, _ I keep telling you--” 

“Of course not, don’t be stupid. We’re going camping,” Ragnor clarifies. 

Magnus pulls a face. “That’s even  _ worse _ . On second thought, I’d prefer the rehab.” 

“Oh shush.” Cat scoffs. “You have five minutes to change and then we’re leaving, so hurry up.” 

Magnus makes a show of not liking this idea at all but he does as he’s instructed, returning to where Cat and Ragnor wait for him dressed in comfortable travel clothing with the bag they brought slung over his shoulder. “Alright then. Let’s get this over with.” 

It takes several hours of travel just to reach the start of their outdoor adventure, and at this point Magnus is finally suffering the dull ache in his head after sobering up entirely from the night before. 

“One of these days Henry and I will have all the kinks of the portal worked out,” he promises. “And we’ll never have to take a carriage again.” 

“Pity you hadn’t been doing that all week instead of going out and getting soshed,” Ragnor comments casually. 

“Life can’t be all work and no play,” Magnus defends, which was much easier for him to say than for Ragnor, as he wasn’t the current High Warlock of London and lived a life with much more leniency towards frivolities and dalliances. 

Magnus tries several times along the start of the trail to convince them to turn back. He bribes them with entry to exclusive clubs, with personal favors, with promising to not speak again for the next 24 hours. That last one almost gets Ragnor, but he inevitably turns it down after a disapproving look and punch to the arm from Catarina. Eventually Magnus stops trying, and walks in silence behind the pair of them for a little while while they go on eagerly, taking in the views, admiring the beauty of the nature around them. 

Despite their friendly chatter it’s too quiet for Magnus. He needs the noise of the city, the distraction of lights and horses and music, of too-loud voices in small rooms… he needs the things that keep his mind from returning to Camille over and over again. He misses her in the quiet of the forest, thinking of how she would disapprove of this just as much as he did. And he must be quiet for too long because soon he finds himself sandwiched between Cat and Ragnor as they walk, engaging in questions about Henry and Charlotte and the other Shadowhunters, about his current freelance work, about the possibility that maybe some travel away from London would do him some good, so long as it isn’t to Peru. 

When the sun starts to set they begin to make camp, with Magnus cheating and using as much magic as he can get away with even though Cat insists it’s more fun to do things the mundane way as ‘ _ part of the experience’ _ . She starts a small fire with the same care and patience which have become the very trademarks of her personality, while Magnus and Ragnor set up the tent and lay out packs to sleep on. They eat and laugh and share stories around the fire, and for a little while Magnus is able to forget why he’s here in the first place. But when he grows lost in his thoughts again, falling uncharacteristically quiet and reserved, Cat excuses herself with a small sigh and comes back with three bottles of wine. 

“You get one hour,” she tells Magnus, passing over a bottle full of deep red wine. 

“And then I never want to hear that lying tart’s name ever again,” Ragnor adds, taking his own bottle from Catarina who keeps the third for herself. They know how this is going to go and don’t bother with glasses or cups. 

Magnus rolls his eyes but there’s a grateful smile on his face that betrays how much this gesture means to him. The next hour is mostly Cat and Ragnor listening, chiming in with a hum here or brief interjection there, but mostly just allowing Magnus to talk. And talk he does, his emotions ranging wildly from fond reminiscing over nicer moments spent with Camille to anger over her lies to personal frustration for giving so much of himself over to her just to have it returned in shattered pieces. The bottle is emptied long before the hour is up. He laughs even though the happier memories are tainted now. He cries when he can’t hold back the tears stinging his eyes in anger and frustration and sadness any longer. He knows he should hate her much more than he does but he can’t help the part of him that still loves her. The part of him he’s terrified always will. But saying it out loud seems to take away some of the power it holds over him, and he feels himself finally starting to come to terms with it all. 

Once the worst of it is out of his system and the three of them retreat into the tent for the night Magnus is surprised to find a sense of peace come over him at the realization that just because his heart is broken doesn’t mean it is entirely incapable of love; because he feels nothing but love in this moment. 

“Thank you,” he says quietly into the dark of the tent, unsure if either of them are even awake to hear his soft admission of gratitude. And while neither of them say a word he’s certain he feels them shift closer on either side of him, shoulders touching, surrounding him with a warmth that will comfort him for centuries. 

**Author's Note:**

> (Find me on [Tumblr](http://bytheangell.tumblr.com)!)


End file.
